The invention relates to wheel support arrangement for driven wheels on a hollow axle to which the wheel loads are transferred and which receives a drive shaft for driving the wheels. A roller bearing is mounted on each end of the drive axle and supports a wheel hub with at least one brake disc or drum to which a flange formed at the end of the drive shaft extending from the hollow axle is connected.
WO 95/13198 discloses such a wheel support arrangement wherein a wheel hub is supported on an axle housing by means of a double ring cone bearing. The outer race ring of the cone bearing is provided with a flange to which, from the outer end of the axle, a brake disc and a wheel hub are bolted, one on top of the other.
Such an arrangement however, has several disadvantages:
It requires that the flange is provided with a bearing race and it consequently needs to be made of roller bearing steel. The flange supports the brake disc and the wheel hub and has a relatively large diameter for supporting the wheel hub and the brake flange and for distributing the wheel load to the bearing so that a relatively large amount of bearing steel is required.
Because the flange is part of the bearing race, the wheel cannot be disposed in the axial center of the bearing so that a central wheel load transfer through the bearing is not possible. Furthermore, the heat from the brake disc is conducted directly to the outer bearing race whereby the bearing play and the lubricant consumption are increased.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a wheel support arrangement which, utilizing a flange-free roller bearing, requires no abutment or support shoulders which have to be machined, on the wheel hub nor on the brake parts flanged thereto, nor on the drive shaft flange also connected to the wheel hub. There should be no need for other axial retaining means for the outer bearing race such as retaining rings nuts or distance rings. Furthermore, the wheel support arrangement should be relatively small in width and diameter and should require as little space as possible. Simple assembly is also desirable and all the disadvantages mentioned in connection with the state of the art referred to earlier should be avoided.